João Graça

“There are fifty American states, but they add up to one nation in a way the twenty-eight sovereign states of the European Union never can. Most of the EU states have a national identity far stronger, more defined, than any American state. It is easy to find a French person who is French first, European second, or one who pays little allegiance to the idea of Europe, but an American identifies with their Union in a way few Europeans do theirs. This is explained by the geography, and the history of the unification of the United States.”
― Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World

“What is now the EU was set up so that France and Germany could hug each other so tightly in a loving embrace that neither would be able to get an arm free with which to punch the other.”
― Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics